Will a nVidea 7950 work with a 300 watt pwer supply??

Question

and what about just a 7900

Answer 1

go to nvidia's website and check the power consumption stats on both of them. In my experiences with computers, most likely not. upgrade to about a 500w or more

Answer 2

I can pretty much guarantee if you run that new video card with a 300watt power supply, the power supply will run hot, eventually short out and break your new video card.

350 watts minimum, 450 watts will be ok. Keep in mind some power supplies lack the ump power for starting up multiple hard drives and high end video cards. You get what you pay for as far as power supplies. If the power supply feels really light in wieght, it won't have much start up juice, if it's a heavy sucker, it can be lower in wattage and still do the job. It's the initial start-up which is crucial.

A $70.00 power supply at 430 watts should run most systems unless you have multiple video cards, optical drives and multiple hard drives.

I suggest a good quality 450 watt power supply for two hard drives, one optical drive, one high end video card and 2 GB RAM. Newer CPUs like the Intel Core 2 Duo use less power, but it still comes down to the intial start up. No umph, no start.

Inadequate cooling of the whole system will make the power supply run too hot also. High end video cards create more heat. That's why most people buy 500watt+ power supplies now, so it doesn't run hot under stress.

Answer 3

They both take too much power under full load. If you have a system that runs on that power supply, getting a card this powerful is useless because the rest will hold it back.